Land, Quilting and a UFO

We've had a busy week, starting with last Sunday. Mama and Papa came down to celebrate Ashley's birthday and babysit Levi on Monday while I took a quilting class. We all went out to our land to check out the progress. Levi had a big time getting his boots muddy.
Papa Charles showing off Levi and his boots. Levi wants to get down and keep playing!
Granna and Levi walking down the hill (Levi LOVES walking down hills right now).
Here's the quilt square I made in my Quilting 101 class at the Creative Sewing Center in West Columbia. It was HARD work but I enjoyed it!

I tried the pattern again today...here's the back...And the front. Not as neat but I think I can continue to improve.
For a late anniversary and celebration of Ashley's birthday, we went to Charleston. Ashley's mom treated us to a cooking class at Charleston Cooks!--a wonderful cooking store near the Market. We learned how to make Sweet Potato Hazelnut pie (homemade crust) and a Chicken and Sausage Gumbo. Following the class, we received a 10% discount in the store, which we used to buy a new Cadillac--or rather, a Cadillac of frying pans- made by Swiss Diamond. If you're looking to replace your Teflon pans, this is a great pan!

After dinner, we went to see Avatar in 3D. Awesome movie...not sure that it is absolutely necessary to see it in 3D--but it is necessary to see it on the big screen!

Like last year, we stayed at the Wild Dunes Resort's Boardwalk Inn on Isle la Palms. Such a fantastic place, esp. when I find deals like $85 a night! Honestly, it's one of the nicest hotels we stay in. Highly recommended.

On the way to and and from Charleston, we drove the back roads. While passing through Bowman, SC, yesterday we saw a UFO! Seriously, this caused us to turn around and go take a picture. Apparently someone has built a UFO behind a gas station. OR maybe a UFO did land in Bowman...that would explain some other crazy things we saw in that town!

Take a side trip...

I just updated my book club's blog with information about our latest read, Kabul Beauty School, by Deborah Rodriguez. It was a quick read about an American hairdresser who goes to Kabul, Afghanistan, and eventually helps create a beauty academy for Afghani women.

Check out the Literary Wives blog if you're interested in learning more: http://literarywives.blogspot.com/
And if you live in Columbia and want to join our book club, let me know. You can always join us virtually and read along with our choices.

Last fall I read A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. This book was also based in Afghanistan and offered a more complicated story of the interwoven lives of several Afghani women. Read more about that book and Hosseini's more known novel, The Kite Runner, here: http://www.khaledhosseini.com/

Happy reading!

Lentil Soup

Back in 2002 when I was living in Chapel Hill and regularly reading a magazine focused on natural, healthy living, I came across information about the superpowers of lentils. I bought a bag at Harris Teeter, clipped a few recipes out, and had every intention of making lentil soup. Fast-forward EIGHT years....I still have the original bag of lentils and recipes (untried).

So this week I put lentil soup on the menu (I'm a big believer in coming up with 4-5 meals I want to make before I do my weekly grocery shopping). I bought new lentils and made some soup.

Here's the recipe I tried:
1 onion, chopped
1/4 c olive oil
2 carrots diced (I chopped up a cup of baby carrots)
2 stalks of celery, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dried basil
14.5 oz can of crushed tomatoes
2 c. dried lentils
8 c water
1/2 c spinach, chopped
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
salt and pepper

In large soup pot heat olive oil over medium heat. Add carrots, celery and onion and cook until onion is soft. Add garlic, oregano, bay leaf, and basil. Cook 2 minutes. Add lentils, water and tomatoes. Bring to boil and then simmer for 1 hour. Add spinach at end (with vinegar) and cook until wilts. Serve with cornbread (I like the little boxes of Jiffy corn muffin mix).

How I would vary it: Use more tomatoes, maybe use beef broth instead of water, and just add additional spices to give it more flavor. Overall it was super easy to make and yes, very filling! I wouldn't say it's the best soup I've made but it's worth trying and perfecting.

In case you're interested in learning more about lentils and all their health benefits, this article is informative: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=52. Highlights include high fiber, magnesium, iron and folate contents. And they're one of the oldest foods to have been cultivated.

And if you eat lentils, you can sit in dump trucks. Yes, Levi even liked the lentil soup.

Excavator, Bobcat and Our Land...Oh My!

Ashley and his dad have had fun lately working on our land with the equipment (especially the new excavator). Although you might not be able to truly appreciate what they've done based on these pictures, know they have really worked hard to smooth out portions of the land and shape it for a potential home site. We still have the land for sale but are leaning more towards building on it after this Baby Boy #2 arrives. We'll see...looking at house plans again now that we have a better idea what this land looks like.

Ashley drove Levi and I over to check out their progress last Friday. This is the view from the highway. Our home would be in the back, towards the right. Go here to see the original picture of the land a year ago. This would be our driveway. We will preserve all of the hardwood trees in the lower portion of our property.
This is on the hill of our land..there used to be a stand of scraggly pine trees and a go-cart track. No more! Now there is a huge brush pile (probably where our house would be located).
And here's the good part...the machines! A month ago Levi would cry when Ashley tried to get him on the bobcat or excavator. Not this time...he was ready to go when he saw them!

Big times for Ashley and Levi.
Ashley used the excavator to pull the scrub pines out of the ground. I thought the machine was like T-Rex! Levi was in the cab during all these pictures.
When Ashley would release the bucket to drop the tree, Levi would say "uh-oh" each time. Funny boy!
I joined them in the cab. Big claws!
Look closely...Levi is peering out through the bobcat's cab.
After a busy day's work (and cold day, too--we've had freezing temperatures for several weeks now), Levi heads back to the truck.

Happy 2010!

Here's to hoping that everyone's New Year has started off well. We kicked off 2010 by having friends and family over for a Good Luck Dinner on New Year's Day. I crocked a Boston Butt almost all day and made black-eyed peas (from scratch, not the can!). Jenny brought cornbread, Martin and Kristin brought collards and smoked boston butt, Harry and Katie brought ice and Buffy and Leighton brought a spare Wii remote.

Lots of fun was had by all as we celebrated the start of a new decade with such delicious food! Ashley and I agreed (as did many others) that Martin's collards were the best we had ever had.

As you can tell from this picture, we couldn't have squeezed in any more people (in our next house, we will have a larger gathering space, I hope!). Even though space was tight, I think everyone enjoyed themselves. A special thanks to everyone who helped eat up our holiday sweets--now our kitchen counter isn't overloaded with sugary delights!In case anyone is interested, here's the recipe for the Boston Butt I made (Eastern NC BBQ style= the BEST BBQ)--it's modified from my UNC Alumni magazine--I may have shared the recipe before but it's worth repeating:

For a 4-5 lb Boston butt, mix together the following over medium low heat:
2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 sticks of butter
2 TBSP salt
2 TBSP lemon juice
2 TBSP crushed red pepper flakes
1 TBSP black pepper
1 TBSP Tobasco
2 TBSP sugar

Place Boston Butt in crock pot. Pour sauce over butt (reserve some for later). I cooked the butt on low for 5 hours and then high for 1.5 hours (you can cook on low 8-10 hours or high for 4-5 hours, I think). I chopped the meat up in the crock pot and then served on a plate. The only thing that Ashley and I would change would be eliminating as much fat as possible before you serve the pork.